THE SPARROW-HAWK. 



Accipiter nisus (Linnaeus). 

 Plate 34. 



In spite of incessant persecution the Sparrow-Hawk still holds its own in 

 districts where there are large tracts of woodland, especially in those where game is 

 not strictly preserved. Except in the extreme north, it breeds throughout Europe, 

 though sparingly in Spain and Italy, while in Asia it ranges as far east as Japan 

 and southwards to the Himalayas. 



Mr. R. J. Howard has provided me with the following account of the habits of 

 this species : " It usually builds its own nest of twigs broken by itself from the 

 branches. Should the first clutch of eggs be robbed the bird will then probably take 

 possession of the nest of some other bird, and in it lay her second clutch. The 

 eggs, from four to six, sometimes seven in number, are round in shape, bluish- 

 white, blotched more or less with reddish-brow^n, and are laid on alternate days. 



" Incubation lasts thirty to thirty-two days. The difference in size of the young 

 is, I think, sexual rather than due to age ; for a young female almost covered 

 with down will be about double the weight of her brother who is more advanced 

 in feather. 



"As is the case with almost all birds of prey, the female remains in the 

 neighbourhood of the nest to brood and protect the young, whilst the cock does 

 the hunting. He brings food to a spot within gunshot of the nest, calls to 

 the hen, who flies to him and takes the quarry, already plucked and frequently 

 headless, to the nest, where she breaks it up and feeds the young. Should the 

 hen be killed whilst the young are too small to tear the food for themselves, I 

 think they would perish from hunger, for although the cock would bring birds 

 to the nest, ready plucked, his instinct would carry him no further. A gamekeeper 

 shot a cock Sparrow-Hawk in the evening, having killed the hen the day before. 

 The young in the nest were surrounded with small birds which had been brought 

 in by the cock. All were more or less plucked, the heads of some having been 

 pulled off. I saw and counted these ; one House-Martin, one Wren, several 

 Wagtails, Blue Tits, Chaffinches, &c., twenty-one small birds in all. I have 

 other somewhat similar records, but not with so many small birds collected." . . . 

 "The short round wings and the large tail enable the bird to thread its way 

 through thick cover in a wonderfully rapid manner. The long slender legs give 

 it a good reach, and the long flexible toes, armed with claws as sharp as needles 

 and also furnished with elongated, indiarubber-like pads, enable it to secure a 

 grip on the feathered body of its quarry that is seldom relaxed so long as life 

 is left in the poor victim. It takes any bird up to or exceeding its own weight 

 which it can catch ; the female can and does kill Woodpigeons." 



The female is very much larger than the male, and in old age often assumes 

 the colour of her mate. 



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